By Egufe Yafugborhi
ASABA — Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, has given suspended Commissioner for Works (Highways and Urban Roads), Reuben Izeze, a 10-week timeline to return to office after the commissioner pleaded for forgiveness.
Oborevwori announced the decision on Tuesday at Government House, Asaba, shortly after swearing in the state Auditor-General and members of the governing councils of three state-owned universities.
Izeze, who attended the event, later approached the governor, knelt before him and thanked him following the announcement.
Explaining his decision, Oborevwori said Izeze had sent him a message earlier in the day, pleading for forgiveness and asking him to inform the public that he had returned from remand at a correctional facility.
The governor said: “Let me talk for a minute about one commissioner who was suspended. He sent me a message this morning that I should forgive him.
“I always tell people that my kind of system is different. If someone like me has changed my style, this is not the Sheriff of 20 years ago.
“So when you are in government, you must behave well because nobody is above the law.”
Oborevwori, however, said Izeze would have to complete the period earlier stipulated for his suspension before resuming duty.
“You have pleaded, and you didn’t have that shame, and you are coming to face the public because people know that you are under suspension.
“From where you were suspended is not yet two months, but I will say that when it completes 10 weeks, then you can resume work,” the governor told him.
Izeze was suspended indefinitely by Oborevwori on August 10 over allegations linking him to the assault of the governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Protocol, Simon Mudi, popularly known as Temple, during a July 26 fracas at the PTI Conference Centre, Effurun.
The incident subsequently led to Izeze’s arraignment and remand at the Nigerian Correctional Service Custodial Centre, Okere, Warri.
A Delta State High Court sitting in Effurun had ordered his remand for 14 days pending further proceedings.
The state government had said the suspension was necessary to allow security agencies conduct an impartial investigation into the allegations without interference.
Oborevwori’s latest pronouncement gives Izeze a defined timeline for his return to office, while reiterating the administration’s position that public officials must conduct themselves within the law.
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